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Tackling Podium Panic |
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How Does Your Workplace Stack Up?
TAKE THE TEST! |
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"There are always three speeches, for every one
you actually gave. The one you practiced, the one you gave, and the
one you wish you gave."
Dale Carnegie |
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Welcome to this month's edition of
The Quest for Workplace Excellence (on-line
edition.)
In your quest for workplace excellence,
you will undoubtedly be called upon to make presentations.
Whether they are for your work team, or for the CEO, we want to
position you for success.
In an early episode of Seinfeld, Jerry
states, “Surveys show that the #1 fear of Americans is public
speaking. #2 is death. Death is #2. That means that at a
funeral, the average American would rather be in the casket than
doing the eulogy.” It is clear that the fear of presenting
before a group can be intimidating and upon occasion, actually
cause physical stress. If you have experienced butterflies in
your stomach, sweaty palms, weak knees or lost sleep for a week
before your scheduled presentation, read on.
First, you must understand that in areas of your life where you
have deep- seated confidence, you’ve been there before, again and
again. In areas where you excel, you’ve had considerable
practice. For example, if you are an IT whiz, you’ve spent years
honing your craft. You didn’t just show up on the scene with a
high level of expertise and confidence. Bit by bit, you built a
solid skill set. As the skill set was building, so was your
confidence.
Speaking is no different. You’ve got to do it over and over
again to increase both your level of confidence and competence.
In becoming a confident public speaker, we know of no short cuts
to excellence. We’ve selected a few tips that we want to pass on
to you to help ensure your success when presenting in front of
groups, whether they be as small as five or as large as 500.
Strive for excellence, not
perfection,
Peter B. Stark
and Jane S.
Flaherty
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1.
Practice positive self-talk
In the words of Henry Ford,”If you think you can, or
you think you can’t, you’re probably right.” As you
think about your presentation in the time leading up
to your delivery, it is critical that you practice
positive self-talk. Go for what you want, not what
you don’t want. In other words, “I’m going to get
nervous and forget what I want to say” becomes, “I’m
prepared. I’ve practiced. My presentation is going to go
great today.”
Changing what you say to yourself related to your
ability to confidently deliver a presentation has a
huge impact on your level of confidence. Each time
the negatives creep in, change them to positives and
focus on what you can do to control your level of
anxiety. Remember, the brain has a hard time
disassociating the negatives. If you think you’ll
get nervous and forget, chances are good you won’t
disappoint yourself.
2. Don’t think about yourself
as a public speaker
Think about yourself as a subject matter expert who
has important information to tell your
audience. View yourself as confidently sharing your
expertise with your audience, who wants to know more
about your topic. As you talk with your audience,
don’t expect yourself to be perfect. In real life,
as you converse casually with acquaintances, you
occasionally forget your train of thought or have to
back up and rephrase something for clarity. It’s the
same when making presentations. You don’t have to be
perfect. In fact, being so rehearsed that you come
across as robotic is not your goal. Lighten up and
where appropriate, use humor to both relax yourself
and your audience. Don’t take yourself too
seriously. Some of the best advice we ever got early
in our career as speakers was, “Just go out there
and have some fun!”
3. Clearly identify your
purpose and goals early on
Before you begin your presentation, have a tight
mental outline as to why you are making the
presentation, what you want to say in the
presentation and your template for presenting the
information. The clearer you are about your purpose
and approach, the more confident you will be when
you present. Keep your message simple. Plan to tell
your audience what you’re going to tell them. Then,
tell them. Finally, briefly tell them what you’ve
told them, and what they should remember. A simple
message delivered in a structured format does two
things. It helps you reduce your anxiety because you
have a clear mental outline of where you’re going.
It also helps your attain your goal of having the
audience retain the information.
4. Expect the unexpected
No matter how well you have prepared, sometimes
things don’t go as planned. It is important to
acknowledge that you can’t control everything.
Expect the unexpected and understand that no matter
what happens, your audience wants you to succeed.
They are just as uncomfortable as you when things
are not going as they should. Typically when the
PowerPoint won’t cooperate, the microphone doesn’t
work and you’ve lost your place in your notes, the
only thing that will work is humor. Make light of
the challenges and your audience will laugh with
you. It’s not the end of the world . . . it just
seems that way.
5. Practice, practice, practice
No matter what else you do to calm the butterflies,
to really tackle podium panic, you’ve got to
practice. Once you’ve got your outline, start
rehearsing sections. Make several “dry runs” before
the actual presentation. Rehearse in front of a
mirror. Video tape your presentation and critique
your efforts. Make changes to segments that don’t
flow. Have a friend, co-worker or family member
listen and give you feedback. Finally, make sure you
get plenty of rest the night before your event.
In reality, the butterflies may never totally leave
you, but hopefully our tips will help your get them
flying in formation in the right direction! Join us
next month for more tips on presenting with
confidence.
(Our Powerful
Presentations program has helped hundreds of
business professionals strengthen their skills.
For more information, please call us at
858.451.3601)
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